


Remnants of What Once Was

by Omnidraconia



Category: Puyo Puyo (Video Games)
Genre: Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fish out of Water, Gen, Mild Blood, Teethies n' Claws yeehaw, klug breaks his nails intentionally but there's no blood, light injury, mild Self-harm, the self harm is the nail thing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-14
Updated: 2020-11-14
Packaged: 2021-03-10 01:28:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,158
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27556102
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Omnidraconia/pseuds/Omnidraconia
Summary: Klug grows in sharp teeth and claws a month after his possession by Strange. He fears for his humanity and does anything he can to stop his transformations so he doesn’t become his own Aya. Anything.In a short sequence of painful events, Klug finds himself in the small home of someone he doesn't recognize. Someone who's more familiar with his plight than he'd initially expect. Oneshot angst about insecurities, regrets, and a new friendship.
Relationships: like the tiniest amount. a pinch. a wee bit. trust me, the tiniest amount of sig/klug is here but its just implied
Comments: 4
Kudos: 35





	Remnants of What Once Was

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first puyo fic, I'm sorry if I get any lore wrong. This plays off my hc that long-term dark magic users grow sharper teeth and nails due to the exposure to the magic's influence. I hope I didn't depict Aya / Strange in too bad a light. He's just a guy in a weird circumstance.
> 
> This is indulgent in a few ways, but I hope you all like it. :)

Klug first noticed something was wrong when biting his lip became painful. Usually a habit of his when deep in thought, the taste of iron was growing to be commonplace. A sharp pinching followed by skin cutting and bleeding. Why? He brushed it off at first. Probably just a stress thing, biting too hard. Something like that.

Then one night he checked the mirror to brush. His teeth felt different. They looked different. He bared his teeth into his own reflection. Were those… fangs? No, no… _No._ No way. That couldn’t be, right? He had to be imagining it? His mind denied every possibility as he eyed his rows of teeth. Almost all of them had a pointed edge to them, incisors looking closer to daggers than their usual self.

For a week he put off the idea of his body changing somehow. It just wasn’t possible… until his fingernails kept catching on his shirt when he put it on in the morning. Giving up on a certain incident and checking for a broken nail, he saw… points. The same sort of pointed edges in his teeth had. _Claws?_

The day he noticed his unusual fingernails, he wore gloves to school. 

\-----

“You’ve been acting strange, kiddo.”

Ayashii spoke up from his tomb prison, eying up the boy. Klug was staring at his full body mirror, again, like he has the last week or so. He was suddenly obsessed with his fingernails and teeth, pulling at his gums to view his mouth in full. From a few rare glimpses Aya noticed in the reflection that his teeth and nails looked like his centuries ago.

Klug’s whole body tensed up at Aya’s words, a squeak escaping him. 

_Strange…_

“Please, I’m just fine. Just, worrying about my own appearance. None of your business,” Klug stated, hand moving in a shooing motion. Aya rolled his eyes. 

As skittish as Klug always was, Aya knew him well. He wasn’t happy with how his body was changing. But typical to Klug, he wouldn’t say a word to anyone until the actual collapsing point. While the demon didn’t care much for the boy’s actual health, he had some respect given how he’s taken care of Aya and his home.

They had a… tense relationship. Just a month ago Aya had gotten hold of Klug’s ego and possessed him. For Klug, it was an incident and a half, but despite it all, Klug couldn’t let go of the demon. Was it his ego? Pride? Empathy? Not once had Klug mentioned it to Aya and he doubted he ever would. All Aya knew was that the kid was not happy to be taken over. 

Ever since then, Klug has been quieter. The air felt tense between everyone Klug knew, trying his best to hide the incident. It was likely the dark magician wanted to forget what happened and have everyone else forget, too.

Aya viewed Klug simply as a _tool._ Not a friend or something he wanted to hurt, just a means of fixing the situation he was in. He wanted nothing to do with humanity, but humanity centuries ago apparently had everything to do with him. Sealed away in a book for eternities because he what, existed? Now all Aya wanted was his own body and peace of mind for once. Things were complicated as a book, so borrowing someone’s body for a little while was absolutely not the worst thing he could have done. But Klug took offense to it, and so did everyone else, and now he’s back in the book. At least they still had each other, in their twisted sort of way.

“I knew you were prideful, but I wasn’t aware that meant in your appearance too,” Aya teased, poking fun like he always did. Driving Klug up a wall was one of the few joys left in his life. 

Klug opted to not reply. 

One month ago Klug's body was taken over. One week ago Klug noticed his body changing. They were connected, he had no doubt there. But he knew better than to ask Aya about it. The demon already tricked him into possession, he didn’t need any more lies or deception. Deep down Klug knew the demon just wanted his old life back, but through his desperation he turned to more morally ambiguous terms without much hesitance. 

Klug’s stomach kept twisting and turning at the thought of losing his humanity. He was certain he was one until just a week ago. Did Aya leave some sort of curse on him? Was this divine punishment for what he had done? He didn’t want to be reminded of his thirst for power, as all it did was leave stinging memories and remarks. The choice set of words Raffina had for him after the incident hadn’t left his thoughts.

Aya mumbled to himself, “fine, go crazy on your own.” He retreated under the pages, mulling with his thoughts in the darkness. In truth, Aya knew what was happening to Klug, but he had nothing to do with it, despite what Klug thinks. Seeing Klug in such a state was amusing, anyhow. He’ll tell the boy when he’s ready.

See, if Klug just… got rid of his claws, that’s one worry out of the picture. Nails can be removed, though not his teeth. He’ll worry about those later for now. Pulling out his nail clippers, he sat on his star-patterned bed. No matter what he did though, the mouth of the clippers were too small to grip his claws in any way. He kept trying anyhow, desperate to get some kind of result. He was able to cram the tip of one into the mouth of the tool, only for the metal to slip and scratch at his thumb’s skin. Frustrated, he tossed the clippers across the room and heard the empty clink of metal on wood. He stared at his thumb as a tiny bit of blood welled up.

The next day, he skipped school. He was tossing all night in bed wondering if the social upstanding or good grades were more important. He decided his grades could wait. Becoming… _something_ he didn’t want to be meant more. Can’t go to school if he’s some kind of beast everyone looks down upon. Like how everyone seemed to look down upon him when Aya took over. 

No… not again.

He didn’t know what he was becoming and he didn’t want it to continue. _This had to stop._

On the day Klug skipped, Sig stared out the window more than usual as his classmates rumored about the purple-clad boy. He was not the type to skip, even if an arm and a leg got torn off. He’d still hobble his way to class one way or another.

“I-I hope Mr. Klug is ok…”

“Ha! Who cares about that bookbrained idiot anyhow? I can’t wait to see him again and rub his imperfect attendance into his face!”

“Could be sick, yeah?”

“He’d be here, even if he was sick. He would rather die than get a bad grade.”

“Ha, maybe he’s dead then!”

“Raffina! Don’t say that!”

The classmates buzzed and murmured as Sig stared at a dragonfly on the windowsill. The usually empty-headed bug catcher was wondering what Glasses was up to.

\-----

On an unfortunately special night, Aya idled on the kitchen counter. There was a harsh storm outside that growled on the windows and walls. Aya couldn’t care less as he read a book Klug left out for him (Aya was lucky he could even lift pages at all). The storm and nighttime made the house flicker with shadows, but candles lit throughout the rooms kept things comfy.

Klug had been isolating himself more and more. Been picking at his claws and teeth like they were scabs. He kept his distance from Aya too, opting to leave him in the kitchen on long nights, rather than the bedroom desk. He couldn’t care less really, just as long as he could read. Read was all he _could do in this form._

Quietly, Klug came down the stairs, socked feet tapping gently with each step. Aya didn’t look up, but followed him sonally from the stairwell to the kitchen drawers. There was the sound of a drawer rolling open and metal tools shifting about. Then, silence. Aya turned the page.

“AH-!”

A searing screech pierced through Aya as his little silhouette sat up. For just a moment Aya saw Klug’s body before he collapsed in pain behind the kitchen island. 

“Kid?! What the hell are you doing?” 

The only reply he got was weeping sobs. The sobs were buried and muffled, but just as audible as ever. Klug did _something_ and he was in pain. Aya looked over the counter edge, and saw the boy crumpled up like a paper wad in a trash can. His whole frame trembled as his back faced the demon.

“Klug…?”

“G-Go away… you did this to me… I-I…” Klug rambled. Aya only had more questions, but at least one was answered by what was surrounding Klug. 

A hammer, for one. The ones used for tenderizing meat. He hadn’t seen Klug use that in ages, if at all. He wasn’t much of a chef, but his parents indulged him in gifts as a reward for his good grades. And on the ground with it were… Triangles? No... _Claws…?_

Alright, as much as Klug losing his marbles was sometimes funny, seeing him physically hurt himself was pushing it. Aya watched the kid, tapping ever-so-lightly on the table surface the tomb sat on. This had to stop.

“Kid, I have somethin’ to tell ya-”

“ _No,_ be quiet. I don’t want to hear a word out of _your mouth,_ ” Klug seethed, voice trembling just like his quivering, crying form. Klug was always the pointy sort with his words, but this particular incident felt like the mage was armed with knives. Aya didn’t like this. Tears rolled down Klug’s face as he held his hands in an iron grip while sitting up. 

Through the grip Aya could see clearly that a few of his clawtips were fractured off with ugly cracks via force. Blunt force. Blunt force and self-doubt. Klug sobbed louder now, feeling embarrassed in front of the creature he thought that did this to him. He was sure Aya was eating this up, huh? Wet stains spotted his sleeve and shirt.

“You-”

“No! Shut up! Don’t say a word to me! You’re nothing to me!” Klug shouted, eyes stabbing directly into Aya’s. His eyebrows furrowed at an awkward angle as he boiled with rage. Klug’s breath was uneven, shaky, and a silence hung over the two as a quiet rumble of thunder hummed from outside.

In a fit of bleeding emotions, Klug jolted up, slammed his front door open, and ran out into the storm alone. He just wanted to be away from the echoing voice in his head that belonged to his demonic book. Just wanted to be away from it all. 

Though the demon claimed he didn’t care for Klug, he regretted not sitting him down sooner. He sat in silence once again.

In some twisted sense Klug preferred the roaring rain, drops striking him like darts. Seemed less painful than what he was feeling. His leather shoes splashed in growing puddles as he ran, ran, _ran_ to nowhere in specific. Just away. Just somewhere. He wished he could leave his own body right now.

His foot caught blindly on a rock, and the last thing he saw was the muddy ground getting closer before blacking out.

\-----

Awake. Klug was awake. Half conscious, his body was heavy with moist clothing and grogginess. He could hear rain, but through the crack of his eyes he saw… fire? Where…?

His eyelids tilted open slowly, seeing he was in a small wooden room. A controlled fireplace sat in the middle, with a pot boiling something just above it. Not much could be seen through the light, only another person visible in the warm flickers. Did they rescue him?

The last he remembered was tripping and blacking out. Cold void gripped him just moments ago. Quite the contrast from the warmth on his face. He was tucked into a scrappy-looking blanket, musty but comforting. He shivered as his wet clothing hugged his skin.

“Hey, are you awake? I see you lookin’ at me.”

The other person in the room spoke up, Klug squeaking in reply. He wasn’t much the subtle type no matter how much he wished he was. He buried his face under the blanket to hide himself. He had to keep how he was a secret…

“I pull your soggy body from a rainstorm and this is how you greet me? So inconsiderate,” The other person said, steps indicating her approach. Her words were harsh but her tone was playful. 

She silently kneeled down in front of Klug, fireplace giving her a warm halo on her silhouette. “I made some soup for us, hope you like it spicy,” she said as a wooden bowl _clacked_ onto the floor. The smell was nice enough to have Klug lower his blanket just a smidge. 

“Hey! You’re one of those magic kids, right? Student at that one school? I recognize your hat logo. My name is Draco, world’s best dragon” She said, flicking her head a bit so her green locks furled in a cutesy way to flaunt. Klug’s first word that comes to mind is ‘confident’.

“So what were you doing out in such a rainstorm?”

Suddenly, what had caused him to jump out into a horrible storm came rushing back through every bloodvein and nerve in his body. Panicking, the mage threw off his sheets and pinned his back to the wall as if Draco was some vile creation. “Y-you don’t know what I am! I’m not human! I-I… something’s happened, I-”

“Oh hush, I'm not human either. Not fully, anyhow.”

Through tense heartbeats, Klug stopped and watched the kneeling person across from him. Her tail was swiped around her on the floor, the tip gently hitting the wooden floor in an idle fidget. She had horns and small wings tucked gently behind her back. This was the dragon Arle referred to, most likely. She seemed completely calm in the face of the student. Did “not human” not register to her?

“D-did you not hear me? I’m some kind of monster-”

“You don’t seem one?” Draco replied innocently. Her lack of fear calmed Klug’s prickling thoughts, even if just a little. His shoulders slumped and dragged his hands down the wooden walls, causing a scratching sound on their way to his lap.

Of course he had to be reminded of his predicament. It was like his body wanted to mock him and his transforming self whenever it could. Through his frames he saw his daggers-for-hands, nails gnarled from the previous damage. 

Draco’s ear twitched in response to the earlier scraping, her slit pupils observing his hand as it moved. She moved towards him with the bowl of soup, Klug tensing back up again at the idea of being close to anyone. He was a _danger._

“Uhm, can you tell me what’s wrong?” She asked, eyebrows angled as she tilted her head, curious. He just looked like a kid, like all those Primp students. She was biased, but a set of pointed edges didn’t really phase her. People were a threat in other ways, anyhow.

The wizard held his breath for a moment before releasing, tension leaking away. Let’s take this one step at a time. “Uhm, I. I had an… _incident_ with a d-demon, yes a demon a while ago, and I think, I _believe_ his influence, maybe some kind of curse, has caused me to turn in- into a demon too, or something-” Klug said, rambling. His voice hiked at the end, cutting himself off as he refused eye contact. He tried to explain his plight in the most innocent way possible. He didn’t want another set of judgements.

Draco’s ear twitched again, some kind of thinking response. “I dunno about a demon turning you into a demon if you’re already a human. That sounds sort of silly,” Draco pondered, thinking about all her experiences with Schezo and Arle. Madou was a strange little world with strange magic, but what he described was unfamiliar to her.

Klug scoffed. So what was happening was silly? He pride resurfaced for a moment before settling back down. What was wrong with him, then?

Draco ran her fingers through her locks, tail sweeping behind her as she thought. Teeth and claws… change despite being human… That reminded her of Schezo. Hold on…

“What kinda magic do you use? Summoning? Prophecy magic? Dark magic?” Draco said, listing off what few things she recalled from Arle’s mumblings over magic. She wasn’t much the magic user herself, but everyone else around her seemed to talk endlessly about it. Only Rulue understood her interest in brawn over brain.

Klug made eye contact with Draco. That was all she needed to know. 

“If one of those, then what you’re experiencing isn’t that unusual.”

“W..what, really?” Klug’s heart skipped a beat. He had been using dark magic for quite some time, even before Aya. While he knew dark magic had its… _consequences,_ he was quite familiar with most of them. But to imply his body changing…?

“Yeaaaah, so… uh, what did Schezy say… something about absorbing the influence of the dark world and thus altering your form. Schezy has a set of teeth like mine, but he wasn’t born like that. All dark magic’s doing. I think he grew some markings on his body too, though I haven’t seen em…”

Klug looked at his fingertips as if he saw them for the first time. So what happened a month ago and his changes were a coincidence. _Huh._

“Most demons use dark magic or some other, so, y’know maybe hanging out with one for too long triggered your transformation. But somethin’ like this was inevitable, if not now then definitely eventually.” She continued.

“Look at that, your poor claws… how did you break them?” Draco asked, picking up his hand gently. Despite having large claws of her own, her grip was delicate and experienced as she turned his fingers nimbly. Klug desired that kind of mastery. 

He opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out at first. Best not to overshare. “T..they’re just fine."

She rolled her eyes and grabbed a nearby nail file from the floor. “Here, I know it’s going to be weird, but you should file your claws. Nail cutters don’t work so you should keep yours a healthy length. You’ve really hurt yours…” She rambled, turning his hand over so his palm was upwards. Gripping with the right amount of pressure, Draco began to file Klug’s nails… no, claws, down to a consistent and shapely form. 

Klug just sat, awestruck at her kindness. And… lack of judgement. Though, to be fair, she (probably) had no clue what had happened to him a month ago. He didn’t recognize her and vice versa. But she kept talking and cleaning up his claws, rambling about how to take care of himself.

“... And maintain a downward curve, like this,” Draco said, showing her own set of claws. They were all evenly trimmed, painted a hue of black that shimmered in the fireplace light. “Aren’t they cute? Heehee…” 

Biting his lip, Klug felt the familiar pressure of his fangs digging into his own flesh while he silently observed. This spawned a question in his mind.

“I have an issue also with another part of me that’s been changing… My teeth seem to be altering themselves into a sharper form like my fingertips have been…” Klug rambled. His run-on sentences were a nervous habit.

“Ooh, you have chompers like me too!” She giggled, grinning for a moment in a way that Klug could see her own teeth. Much more grown than his, but not that different ultimately. Two rows of zigzag triangle-shaped teeth pressed together to form a devilish looking smile. 

Instinct in Klug told him that fangs like those were an innate danger, but something about the sweet dragon giving him an innocent smile and a bowl-full of soup and advice eased his mind. 

“Er, yes… Kind of…”

“Pointy teeth aren’t much different to take care of than normal ones. They’re sharper, for one, so you might find you’ll genuinely hurt yourself if you bite your cheek or lips or something.”

Klug already understood that well enough.

“You should floss more, ‘cause it’s easier for food to get stuck between ‘em. Careful not to bite too hard into your food, your teeth will cut right through it better than you expect them to. Otherwise just brush like usual and get used to your new set of wares. Have your claws been catching on clothing?”

Klug grumbled a yes, ashamed of his inexperience. He felt like a little kid with scissors taped to his hands. He would run and hide and bury himself in his shame, but the least he could do while he was here was learn how to handle his body changes.

“You’ll just have to get used to that, sorry. Usually claws for most people grow in at a younger age, so you get used to it as you grow older. You’re a bit unlucky, but handling your claws will become natural over time. Expect clothing rips and scratches.”

The boy sighed, hoping to hear anything but what he’s been experiencing. Guess he’ll have to learn sewing. He eyed his soup. He was glad to see it had no major chunks in it, just soft meat and vegetables with rice. He never would have expected to be glad he won’t have to chew much for once, but here he was. 

Taking a spoonful, the warm flavor hit his tongue. Sweet and spicy… The rice was soft and tasted like herbs. Not what he was used to, but a welcome delight. The warmth hit his core and suddenly the soggy clothing wasn’t so bad. 

“I like it.”

“Heehee, I’m glad,” Draco said as her tail wagged in the air. Quite the expressive one, Klug thought.

While this situation wasn’t ideal, perhaps quite stressful, maybe it wasn’t all bad. His paranoia was settled, at least. He would talk to Aya when he got back. To wonder if the demon knew he was only changing due to magic… He’ll think about it later.

For now, he had a new friend to talk to and soup to enjoy. 

“So, what are you doing living all the way outside Primp? This one room house seems quite quaint.”

“Oh, this is my treehouse. Been livin’ here a while. It’s not much but I like it. I got a mini fridge from Arle that runs on battery and it’s been a wonder ever since…”

They talked through the night. Klug forgot about the thunderstorm.

\-------

Klug’s front door swung open and Aya popped to attention. His little spirit body pushed the cover of his prison open, eyes glued to the boy. It was some ungodly hour in the morning before the sun rose, but not like Aya slept. The thunder had long subdued outdoors and crickets could be heard through the doorway.

“Kid…?” Aya said. He tried not to show it, but he was concerned. On the bright side, Klug didn’t seem on the verge of collapse like several hours ago. 

“Aya… we need to talk. Also, I have a guest over,” he said, Draco peeking from over his shoulder. She smiled at the book demon, tail wagging a little. 

The last few days have been interesting, to say the least.

\---- 

After a long night and a few restless hours of sleep, Klug was getting ready for school. It was a Friday, fortunately. He fumbled with his bowtie as he attempted to tie it as gingerly as he could. His claws were to a more manageable length thanks to Draco, but he still had to learn how to use them properly. A few shaky attempts proved successful as he smiled to himself in the mirror. A little fang peeked out from his lips, but he didn’t mind anymore.

“Fiddling with yourself again?” Aya said idly, reading another book with his incorporeal back to the mage. 

“I must always look my best for school. Proper care for the self and your appearance is vital for good grades and work ethic,” preached Klug, smirking a devilish little look at himself. No longer in denial, Klug thought his sharp teeth fit his persona well. A powerful and respectable dark mage… yes, that’s what he was. 

Though Klug couldn’t see it, Aya had a crooked smile on his face. Klug was back to his egotistical self, as he should be. 

“Come Aya, to class. I have notes to catch up on.”


End file.
